Much research has gone into showing why our society is so mesmerized by this glowing box and the action that takes place within it. Only a mere sixty years ago the invention of the television was viewed as a technological breakthrough with black and white ghost-like figures on the screen so small, hardly anyone could see them. Today that curiosity has become a constant companion to 90% of the American population (Sherrow 26), mainly, children and teenagers. Unfortunately, it is these violent programs that are endangering our present-day society. Violent images on television, as well as in the movies, have inspired people to set spouses on fire

Even the American Medical Association agrees that the “link between media violence and later aggressive behavior warrants a major organized cry of protest form the medical profession” (Palmer 122). The issue of the public’s infatuation with media can be paralleled with that of a young child and his desire for candy and “junk foods.” The child enjoys eating such foods, though they produce the harmful effects of rotting away at his teeth. With a parent to limit his intake of such harmful sweets, however, the child is protected from their damage. Similarly, the American public desires to view violent programs at the risk of adapting induced aggressive behaviors. Because the networks refuse to act as a “mother,” and to limit the amount of violence shown on television, there are no restrictions to prevent television’s violent candy from rotting away at the teeth of society.

Despite the negative effects media violence has been known to generate, no drastic changes have been made to deal with this problem that seems to be getting worse. We, as a whole, have glorified this violence so much that movies like “Natural Born Killers” and television shows such as “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” are viewed as normal, everyday entertainment. It is even rare now to find a children’s cartoon that does not depict some type of violence or comedic aggression.

A public boycott of violent programming, lyrics, and movies, apparently, is the only way to make the “production staffs accept media violence first and foremost as potentially damaging, rather than regarding it principally as potential entertainment” (Belson 527). Only when the public is able to change the current attitudes of the media on the topic of aggression and television, can a plan to produce more beneficial and useful forms of television content be implemented (Brown 259).

It is the aggression that is rubbing off on our society, and it is this aggression that we are trying to hide. Why is it that, like the tobacco companies twenty years ago, the present day television broadcasting companies refuse to consent that violent films and programming can and do have harmful effects on their viewers (Rowland 280)? What can be done to combat the stubborn-minded broadcasting companies and to reduce the amount of violent scenes that infest every aspect of our senses? The media giants of today, such as ABC, CBS, and NBC continue to air violent shows, because they make money off of these programs.

A recent report from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) pooled evidence from over 2,500 studies within the last decade. The studies were done on over 100,000 subjects from several nations. The compiled evidence of the media’s influence on behavior is so “overwhelming” that there is a consensus in the research community that “violence in the media does lead to aggressive behavior” (Methvin 49). Given that the majority of scientific community agrees that “the research findings of the NIMH publication support conclusion of a causal relatio

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